Chapter 1
| spirits = Sissel | ghosttricks = * Manipulate * Rewind * Travel | next = Chapter 2 }} "Chapter 1" is the prologue chapter of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. Storyline At a junkyard, Sissel woke up from a state of unconsciousness and dizziness. He found himself lying dead in front of a woman he did not know held at the gunpoint of a hitman. The hitman readied his gun to shoot the woman and Sissel felt bad for the woman as he could not do anything to help her. A voice interrupted his chain of thoughts and told him not to loll about dead. It told Sissel that he was the only one who could save the woman. Sissel became confused and his surroundings turned red. He demanded to know the source of the voice, but the voice refused. It said that he needed to save the woman with his powers first. It explained him about his soul, the cores near him and the ghost tricks that he possessed. It asked him to try a ghost trick on the crossing gate he had possessed. Sissel was still not clear on everything, but the voice triggered the regular flow of time. The hitman aimed his shotgun and Sissel performed a trick on the crossing gate, raising it. The movement startled the hitman and the woman ran past him. However, he picked his gun back and held the woman back at his gunpoint. The voice triggered the Ghost World and explained to Sissel that he had performed a ghost trick that changed the woman's fate, albeit very slightly. Sissel began understanding how to use his powers and the voice asked him to move to a new core. He intended to possess the wrecking ball above the crossing gate but he was unable to reach it. He chose to possess the guitar beside the crossing gate instead. The voice set time in motion again and Sissel performed a trick on the guitar, strumming its chords. The hitman shot the guitar in confusion, making it fall. The woman took a run again but the hitman followed up to her soon enough. Sissel entered the Ghost World and he tried possessing the only core available: his own corpse. The voice admired his intention to help. Sissel thought that since he could manipulate small objects, he would be able to manipulate his own corpse. Time flew again and Sissel tried to perform a trick on his body. The attempt was futile as the voice began explaining to him that he could not manipulate living organisms, not even their corpses. They looked at the woman on the right. She was still held at gunpoint. The hitman finally shot the woman and her body fell down the junkyard. The phone located at the lower level of the junkyard rang and the hitman walked towards it to pick it up, kicking Sissel's corpse down while on his way. The man answered the call and told the caller that the job was done and that he was on his way back. He looked and tipped his hat at Sissel's body resting on a run-down sofa before leaving. Sissel doubted the benefits of the ghost tricks he had as the woman's fate remained unchanged. A lamp sitting next to his corpse suddenly moved in its direction and got switched on. The lamp asked how he was feeling. Sissel completely ignored the lamp at first, but he realized the lamp was the one who was talking to him all along. The lamp explained him that he was not the "voice" he heard, since the dead did not have voices. He explained his thoughts were beamed directly into his mind. Sissel said his ghost tricks were not able to help the woman, as she ended up dead as she was supposed to before their interference. The lamp said Sissel's thoughts were true at that point of time. He told Sissel that he had much more to tell him about the powers of the dead. Sissel asked for the lamp's identity, but he said that they should be saving the lady first. Sissel wondered what more they could possibly do for the dead woman and the lamp asked him to possess his body. Sissel was unsure about helping the woman as he barely knew her, but he decided to help her anyway for two reasons: he could not leave the woman lying around like trash and he had nothing to lose at that point. Sissel communicated with the lamp via a stand-in and entered the Ghost World. He travelled through different objects to reach a folding cot. The lamp explained him how to perform a trick on it and Sissel returned to the land of the living to unfold it. He possessed lamp after the cot unfolded. Sissel noticed the difference between his and the woman's corpse, in that "something" emanated from his. The lamp said it was because he was special. He said that Sissel had passed and he would teach him a new ghost trick. He asked him what would happen if he possessed a corpse instead of inanimate objects. Sissel reminded him of his attempt to perform a trick on his own corpse and how nothing happened. The lamp told him that he could not manipulate a corpse, but he could do something else entirely. He suggested him to try and see what he could do when he would possess the woman's corpse. Sissel entered the Ghost World and did as he was told. Instead of gaining possession, he entered the woman's mind. A soul awaited him inside the woman's mind. He tried talking to it, but the soul did not respond. The lamp told him that the woman was still unconscious. Sissel argued that she was dead and could not have been unconscious. The lamp reminded him of the time when he came to his senses, how he had been unconscious as well. The lamp suggested Sissel that they save her from her death. He told him about the other ghost trick he could perform inside the woman's mind: he could go back in time four minutes before her death. Sissel was confused at the thought of traveling through time when the lamp reminded him that they were talking about the powers of the dead. He asked him to go back in time. Sissel was still confused and the lamp said that he would see what he was capable of doing when the time came. The two rewinded the time and watched the woman's death play out in front of them. The woman had tugged at Sissel's dead body when the hitman appeared to kill her. The lamp told Sissel that they could repeat the four minutes as many times as they wanted. Sissel resolved to save the woman. He was confused as to why he was down on the lower level when the woman, the hitman and his own corpse were at the top. The lamp explained to him that the woman's corpse in the lower level was their entry into the past, which was why he still had it possessed. The lamp lowered its neck and asked Sissel to hop in and save the woman, as they had only four minutes before she died again. Sissel traveled through a mannequin, rolled a tired, opened a refrigerator and created a mechanism to hoist the flag connecting the two levels of the junkyard using a fan and a blender. He possessed the bell of a nearby bicycle and rung it just as the hitman dabbed at the woman after his foiled attempt. The sound startled the man and he shot at the bicycle. Sissel's interference changed the woman's fate slightly again, but her predicament still remained the same. The woman ran toward the right only to find a dead end due to the bridge being up. The hitman followed her again. Sissel possessed the bicycle's pedal and pedaled it forward towards the woman and the hitman. He lowered the lever on the nearby crane that switched the two sides of it, positioning the wrecking ball just above the hitman. The hitman failed to notice the movement. Sissel travelled through the bicycle to a folding ladder, extending it, reaching the claw that held the wrecking ball. He opened it before the hitman could shoot the woman and the wrecking ball fell on the hitman, killing him. The impact launched the bicycle into the sky and it landed on the electric wires. The wrecking ball rolled down the edge of the bridge and into the pit and the woman breathed in relief. The lamp told Sissel that he had saved the woman's life as the danger had rolled away. Sissel returned to the present where it had started raining. He had saved the stranger's life, but the terrible truth dawned on him. He could not remember who he was, why and how he died. He had lost all of his memories. The lamp triggered the Ghost World and told Sissel that his story was not over. Sissel asked who he was and he introduced himself. He told Sissel that he was "Ray," as in "ray of light." Sissel told him that he could not remember his name. Ray explained that some ghosts get their memories back while others do not. He also explained that the ghosts had only one path to follow, which was to disappear. All ghosts would cease to exist with the morning. Sissel told Ray that he wanted to use his powers of the dead to save one last life: his own. Ray told him that spirits cannot save their own lives as he had tried to save his earlier too. Aware of the fact that he would not exist after the morning, Sissel resolved to learn everything about himself in order to gain back his memories before resting in peace. Ray told Sissel that his first step in recovering back his memories would be the woman. He asked Sissel to remember that the woman whom he had saved that night was the key to everything. Sissel started keeping a record of everything he knew. When he returned to the Ghost World, he shimmied the handle of the bicycle hanging by the electric wires. He traveled to a nearby umbrella and popped it open in front of the woman. The woman was confused at everything happening on its own and concluded that she might have had telekinetic powers. She took the umbrella and descended into the lower level of the junkyard to the place where Sissel's corpse lied. She saw a black cat near his body that ran away as she approached it. She checked Sissel's coat and found a note. Sissel entered the Ghost World and tried reading the note, but a phone call interrupted him. The phone call the hitman received in the alternate past arrived and the woman picked it up. The caller was the culprit behind Sissel's and the woman's murder and was on the other end of the phone. Ray asked Sissel to possess the telephone after which he would tell him about another one of his ghost tricks. As soon as he did, he could see the caller's face on the other end. The caller asked the receiver about the job and the woman quietly listened. He asked whether he "got her," and the woman asked him about his identity. The man begged her pardon and told her that he had dialed the wrong number as he promptly hung up. Ray told Sissel about the ability of ghosts to travel between two points over great distances via telephone lines. He told Sissel that he would have to go to the other end of the phone alone as he his powers had grown weak. He had used most of his powers to reach the desk lamp that night. He trusted Sissel with the task of uncovering the truth as many things would happen that night. Sissel thanked Ray for his help, but he did not make any promises. He told him that he had pursue the mystery of his own death before he could help him. Ray told him that the truth and his death are interconnected and that he could not uncover either without discovering both: both were one and the same. The call registered the caller's phone number on the phone and Sissel traveled across the phone line to reach the culprit, with the mysteries of his death revolving around him as he traveled.